Royal Courts of Justice appeared on 8 September 2025 on the exterior wall of the Queen’s Building at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. The work is a manifesto against the United Kingdom’s anti-protest laws and the ban on the Palestine Action group.

The work depicts a traditionally wigged and robed judge beating an unarmed protester lying on the ground with his gavel; the protester’s placard is covered in bloodstains. The building’s security camera is turned towards the artwork and symbolises censorship.

The composition is minimalist and tense: Banksy uses stencil technique with minimalist contrast and dynamic composition. The contrast between the judge’s dominant posture and the protester’s passivity intensifies the visual irony, and the only colour accent is the red bloodstains.

Banksy transforms the icon of the justice system into a figure crushing the protester. This is a reference to Palestine Action being declared a terrorist organisation in July 2025 and the 890 arrests on 6 September. By satirising authority figures as perpetrators of violence, Banksy questions how the justice system suppresses freedom of protest and mocks the state’s claim to ‘rule of law’. The bloodstained placard symbolises the violent suppression of freedom of expression. Banksy emphasises that laws silence opposition.

Art expert Paul Gough describes the work as ‘angry and direct’.

The mural was discovered on 8 September and covered with barriers on 9 September. Despite philanthropist John Brandler’s suggestion that it be sold for charity, it was completely removed on 10 September, leaving only a ghost trace.

While the judge beats the protester with his gavel, whose hands hold the scales of justice?